It is important to understand why ethical decisions are made in business and what, if any, factors can influence the processes/procedures and ultimately the consequences of these decisions (Crane and Matten, 2010). All business activities involve some sort of decision-making but how people integrate ethics in that process varies from person to person.

Many employees today are faced with situations that require decisions to be made based on their moral judgment. Our civil engineer was challenged with an ethical dilemma when she was put in a difficult situation with contrasting views to the Director of Public Works. On one hand the civil engineer has been quite impressed with the quality of work that has been carried out by the full time employees, yet the Director had an opposing view, suggesting that the contractors do a better job. In addition to the conflicting opinions the Director does not appear to be accommodating in any way in order to appease both the staff as well as the newly appointed civil engineer.

The civil engineer had submitted a proposal to utilise the full time employees on the next project, as she would have been able to supervise the work first hand and ensure that the quality of work was up to standard. The Director virtually ignored the proposal, and without discussing anything with the civil engineer had approached the CEO with a one sided view of the situation and moved on. The issue in question is whether or not the civil engineer should take the matter further and discuss the options with the CEO.

What is the right thing to do?

The first step in any ethical decision-making process is actually recognising that there is a moral issue. The fact that the decision in question is going to have a significant effect on the workers and that is quite relevant to both parties suggests that the decision is...

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As a child, one is taught what is right and wrong and receives rewards or consequences for actions dealing with either. Parents mold children into having morals and values, but as an adult, ethics starts to play a huge part as well. The saying “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is engrained in a person’s head, but how does a person decide what kind of adult they want to be? What guides them? Ideas such as virtue ethics, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics can help mold a person into the character they want to be; although all three ideas are very different.
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There are similarities and differences, which exist between virtue, utilitarianism, and deontological ethical theories. I will provide an explanation of each theory as well as a description of the differences in how each theory addresses ethics and morality. From childhood to adulthood, People have lived through many experiences. I will touch briefly on a personal experience to show the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts as they relate to one of the theories.
Beginning with Virtue ethics, “it is also called agent-based ethics. Its position is that we become good when we cultivate excellence (virtue) by pursuing the moderate course between excess and defect” (Boylan, Pg 208, 2009). An example of this is by saying that a person who has a certain job or career can achieve excellence if he or she make the conscious decision to do what it takes to get there. Utilitarianism defined is “the theory that suggests that an action is morally right when that action produces more total utility for the group as a consequence than any other alternative does.” Utilitarianism has an individual put the entity before his or herself, for the greater good of the team, work-center, or corporation. By understanding one’s position in that entity, realizing at the moment there is someone better suited to fulfill a task, the utilitarian willingly would offer the task to the more qualified...

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Ethics and Social Responsibility
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In this paper the similarities and differences between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics will be explored. Virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics are all examples of morals and ethics and have their similarities and differences. The theme virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics all have in common is the moral decision involved in making the decision.
The decision can be made virtue theory if the decision is made morally, and based upon reasoning, intuition, and justice while the decision made in utilitarianism is made based on pleasure for the masses, and finally deontological ethics is based on the rules of higher power. These all involve moral decisions and doing what is morally and ethically correct. “Virtue ethics is founded on an important assumption that the ancient Greeks held about the meaning of life” (Nicolas Manias, 2013).
1. Virtue theory is dealing mainly with the character of a person. This theory emphasizes one’s character not his or her obligations or duties expected of each individual. Virtues are qualities that virtually morally good and desirable in a person. Virtue theory is how a person acts and does not take into consideration particular acts, rules, or...

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EthicsEssay
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EthicsEssayEthics is recognized as a system of moral values, values that affect how people live their lives and make choices. Ethics is the concerned with the examination and study of human actions as it relates to the right and wrongness of these actions. There are several different theories associated with ethics, the purpose of this essay is to briefly describe, compare and discuss the similarities and differences between three ethical theories: virtue ethics, utilitarianism and deontology.
Utilitarianism Ethics
The basic tenant of Utilitarianism ethics is that the action one takes is morally right when it is beneficial for the greatest number of people. Another way to express this thought is, “The greatest good for the greatest number of people” (Boylan, 2009, p. 153). When taking these actions the character of the individual defined.
Deontological Ethics
This theory emphasizes duty to an action or following rules, because the action itself is inherently right. In addition, the Deontology theory is not concerned with the results of the action; it is the motives behind the action that determine if they are right or wrong. In order to help understand the concept, often a...

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[A]Explain Kantian ethics.
Immanuel Kant was born in 1724 and was a renowned German philosopher with huge influences on modern philosophy. He was perhaps most known for his work ‘Critique of Practical Reason’ which looked at the way we as humans use reason to arrive at result. This work with reason was his most significant, aimed as a response to empiricism and rationalism. Kant’s ethical standpoint was also extremely significant and was based strongly around the idea we are duty bound to do the ethically right thing.
His ethical theory is a deontological one, concerned with ensuring actions are moral as oppose to necessarily moral consequences. This is normally best demonstrated using a common thought experiment where a German SS officer arrives at your door whilst you are hiding a Jew upstairs. An individual who abides by relative morals would base their decision on the fact that if they gave up the Jew, they would be killed. As a result they would most likely lie about the presence of said Jew. This is a consequentialist view. From a Kantian Ethics standpoint, one would consider it their Kantian duty to tell the truth, regardless of the immoral outcome. This kind of moral thinking allows rules to be univeralisable and arguably allows justice to be done every time.
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EthicsEssay
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Virtue ethics
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EthicsEssay
ETH/316
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